Reminiscenses of our School Days
by JenniAngel.xx
Summary: 'Ow,' Lavi winced he felt the stinging red mark on his cheek, 'did you just slap me? That hurt, baka, what did you do that for'If I did then you really did deserve it', Kaori's defiant yet hurt eyes stared back. Back into the emerald green. LavixOC R
1. First Day

Reminiscences of our School Days

Chapter I: First Day

_Firstly, a disclaimer: _

_I, although, a huge fan of all beautiful things to do with -Man, am not the creator, mangaka, writer, translator etc. Therefore, I acknowledge that -Man will always belong to Katsura Hoshina. However, my OCs, Kaori and co. do belong to me so please, no plagiarism!_

_Dedicated to my favourite instant noodles, migoreng~_

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* * *

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'Ow,' Lavi winced he felt the stinging red mark on his cheek, 'did you just slap me! That hurt, baka, what did you do that for!'

'If I did then you really did deserve it', Kaori's defiant yet hurt eyes stared back. Back into the emerald green, 'you traitor...all you care about is your B.S. reputation! This world doesn't revolve around you and your popularity. You're not cool at all, acting like everything is yours. I'm not you're toy, not your plaything. Don't just touch me when you feel like it! I'm not like your _fanclub_, Lavi,' she sneered, choking on the name, 'I have a decent brain…'

_End of flashback_

* * *

'Kaori, wake up!' Manami Yoshida gently shook her daughter, who was currently sprawled very unlady-like on the queen sized bed.

'Kaori!'

'Mmm, what?' Kaori sleepily opened one eye, 'I'm so tired…'

About to nod off to sleep again, Kaori turned over and happened to catch the time on her light blue alarm clock, which was looking rather battered after being hit on the snooze button a few hundred times.

'OMG, Mum, it's 8 o'clock already! Why didn't you wake me up! I'm going to be late…on my first day as a senior!'

Whipping on her school uniform, she grabbed a brush and quickly ran out of her room, leaving her helpless mother standing in the doorway.

'But I _was_ trying to wake you up…'

After quickly brushing her teeth, she ran the brush through her hair and applied a light layer of makeup. Koari was eating a fruit bar while trying to put on her customised belted knee-high boots when her mother's face appeared in the doorway of the corridor. Kaori nodded but decided that getting to school on time was more important than what her mother had to say right now. First impressions as a senior were essential to become a senior honours student and she was determined to do so.

'Darling, the limo's outside waiting for you. I've just arranged it so you won't be late.'

Manami smiled hopefully at her daughter, waiting for her response which would hopefully be somewhat grateful. She's probably too frantic to ask about the limousine, she thought, but something tells me that she's too smart to not notice…

'Ehh? When did you buy a limousine, Mum? I thought the only person in our family who had a limo was my 'father'…wait a minute-'

Koari turned around to stare at her mother. The apologetic look on her face said it all.

'It's my 'father's' limousine isn't it, Mum.' She watched her mother's face as she nodded hesitantly, her expression now disappointed as the smile melted off. Kaori sighed and bit her lip in disgust at the very thought of her father, 'never mind, Mum, I'll just tell the chauffeur to drive back. I'm going catch a taxi, it's faster anyway. Go back to bed. Remember, the doctor said that your body isn't well.'

Koari turned, grabbed her handbag and quickly left the house, her long black hair swishing gently around her arms. Manami noted the clenched fists, and the skin stretched white around it. She sighed and headed off to bed.

* * *

Leaving the taxi, Kaori took a deep breath as she tried to rid her thoughts of that man. That _asshole_, who made my mother worry about me very day, made her unable to work so she could keep the house in order. I'll-I'll-

Koari bit her lip, fighting the angered emotions inside her. I've got to be careful, she spoke to herself, and I'll bury my pride and obey him now since he's my only source of financial insurance. After all, being the head of a major technology company has some advantages. But when the time comes, I'm seriously going to overtake him. Kaori smiled as the carefully plotted plan that she had thought about for years unravelled in her head. She flicked back her hair, turning many male heads as she did so, and sauntered smartly down the street to her high school.

The sign was made of black marble, polished to the maximum shine, with silver bold elegant script that spelt out 'Royal Black Cross Academy: An Prestigious School for Young Men and Women'. To the students however, who couldn't be stuffed to say the whole line when talking about it between friends, it was called Black Cross.

Entering the school, the effect of Kaori's calm stride was ruined as she was pounced on by something with a mess of wildly curled hair, red eyes and…knee-high laced up boots!

'Kaori-chan~ we're seniors now~ doesn't out new uniform look so awesome!'

The scary person started raving, swinging around her handbag and binder folder dangerously.

Then, she finally took in the scared kitten look on her best friend's face. Mizuki smirked, and then straightened up, smoothing down her hair and fixing the decorated chain acting as a belt on her skirt into the right place.

'For your information, Kaori-chan, this hair was professionally curled by five star beauty salon and my eyes are rose not red. And yes, I am psychic.'

Kaori shook her head, unable to think of a response, and then hugged her friend tightly. She was still her bestie, no matter how…abnormal she got. However, this friendly greeting was soon interrupted by…a stampede of mad girls?

'Wahh! I mean - what?' Kaori corrected her mistake subconsciously as she watched the girls charge at a guy with flame-coloured hair. Hours of lessons on lady-like manners could do that to you, 'What was that all about?'

Mizuki shook her head sadly, playing with the rose coloured metal hearts dangling down her belt.

'This is why I call you a dreamer sometimes, Kaori. They were there since grade 8. Those girls are the Lavi Fan Club members. I think they have issues or something, they're so obsessed with anything related to him.'

Kaori was dumbfounded for a moment. How many girls were in that stampede? Thirty, forty, a hundred? Who was this guy? A celebrity? But then, half of the population of Black Cross was either related to or a celebrity. Surely this guy couldn't be that popular?

Immersed in her thoughts, she didn't notice the flash of red do a U-turn, escaping from the stampede towards her until…

'Ouch!'

Unlike Mizuki, who had stepped smartly sideways before the red object/thing had collided with her, Kaori wasn't so lucky. Rubbing her backside, which had landed hard on the floor, she looked at the red-haired guy with his eyes closed and hands held tightly together sitting on the floor. This was Lavi?

'Sowie~' He apologised and then he opened his eyes to wait for the response.

Kaori gasped quietly as he mentally corrected herself again. Eye, not eyes since one were behind an eye-patch…but still. Kaori, who was both the Visuals Arts president and an accredited junior honours student in that area, had to appreciate the colour of his eye. It was a brilliant green. She could think of hundreds of thing that had the same colour, but would only be half as pretty as it. New leaves on a tree after winter, fresh grass, a hidden meadow, forests…

Mizuki, noticing the captivated look on her friend's face, sighed internally. Dreamer, she confirmed silently. Stepping in, she smiled apologetically (but for some reason, to Lavi almost, menacingly?) and replied, 'No problem. I don't think she's hurt, just a bit dazed…' She poked Kaori hard on the ribs in an attempt to revive her. A six Dan karate black belt's worth. She didn't feel it.

'Um, I'm sorry, we have to go now. Um…personal issues, yeah…'

Dragging Kaori away from the scene without checking to see if Lavi was hurt or not, she led her to the Main Hall for roll call. Mizuki had not appreciated seeing the look on Kaori's face. The last thing she wanted was for her friend to transform into another mad fan girl. Unforgivable.

Kaori, by then had recovered from her stupor at seeing such a beautiful green. She laughed to herself, art freak much? I have to stop this habit of daydreaming somehow…

Then she felt an excruciating pain in the place on top of her ribs.

'OWWWW!'

She ran to the restrooms, followed closely by Mizuki, and lifted up her blouse, exposing a huge red mark where a bruise was beginning to form. Mizuki, who was examining her rose colour streaks in the mirror, turned around lazily and suppressed a grin.

'Did I do that?'

Kaori gaped at her friend in disbelieve while she stared back innocently. It served her right anyways, it was her fault for just standing there~

'What?'

'I'LL KILL YOU! WE HAVE SWIMMING ON THE TIMETABLE NEXT!'

_And that concludes the first chapter of 'Reminiscences of our School Days'~ please review as it would be greatly appreciated. More reviews mean faster chapter uploads. BYE~_

_xx_


	2. Close Call

Reminiscences of our School Days

Chapter 2: Close Call

Kaori sulked as she unbuttoned her blouse to put on her school swimsuit. The mark was now purplish and it didn't take a genius to tell her how it should feel.

'Ouch!'

She winced slightly as she attempted to pull her arms through under the thin straps. Damn, that Mizuki and her unhuman-like strength, she glared at her PE bag to stop her from cursing, I think she fractured one of my ribs. Hearing a giggle from behind her, she turned around, whipping her black, glossy curtain of hair away from her face. Seeing Mizuki's uncaring face, she scowled and looked away, folding her uniform neatly into her bag.

'You know I'm sorry, right Kaori?', asking the direct opposite of what her expression showed, 'I didn't mean to poke that hard.'

Kaori pouted, 'I'd normally forgive you when my bruise heals…in a year. But since we have to do laps today, I'll forgive you now'

Mizuki grinned, she was definitely forgiven. Kaori had to reluctantly depend on her when they had swimming classes. After all, the difference in between their abilities was large. Mizuki was the star on the state swimming team and had countless medals strung everywhere in her house. Kaori, however, had gotten a YOU PARTICIPATED award for swimming 10 metres in a learn-to-swim program. But then again, Mizuki reasoned, it's the complete opposite on land. She's the favourite of our basketball teacher while I'm totally hated. Before she could continue pointing differences out, Kaori interrupted her intense argument.

'Mizuki, hurry up! Saato-Sensei is calling us!'

Shrugging, Mizuki turned and followed Kaori out of the change rooms.

'…Today we should be continuing on practicing racing dives. Would anyone like to demonstrate to us how to perform this?'

Kaori quickly hid herself from the teacher's vision behind Mizuki. No way was she going to dive off that narrow box into a 5m deep swimming pool. Basketball was her thing; she could victor over the guys whenever she wanted to. Swimming, however, involved her most hated thing: water.

The teacher quickly glanced around the room and then selected his victim.

'Sana-chan, please come up and show us what your racing dive looks like. Use the box instead of the edge, it gives you more leverage.'

A nervous brunette climbed stepped from the crowd and climbed shakily onto the box. Her actions were stiff and she almost fell into the water. Standing up, Sana arched her back and stretched out her arms, holding them together behind her ears. The coach fixed her position a bit then blew the whistle. Sana plunged into the water, to the applause of the relieved crowd; at least it wasn't them.

The coach waited until Sana had climbed out of the pool and then gave her some advice.

'Sana, your stance was almost perfect and the jump was pretty good, however, you split your legs apart as you hit the water. In a good racing jump, this mustn't happen. Keep on practicing.'

Saato-Sensei coughed and then began talking to the rest of the class again.

'Sana's jump was improvement to the last time, however, she does need more practice. Let's see someone from the swimming team now, to show us how it is properly done. Please raise your hand if you are a member.'

Kaori smiled at Mizuki as her friend raised her hand.

'Ganbatte, Mizuki!'

Saato-Sensei nodded at Mizuki. At last, he thought, we have someone with talent.

'Mizuki-chan, please show us your racing dive now.'

Mizuki clapped, delighted.

'Awesome, my turn.'

She stepped confidently up onto the diving box and then waved at Kaori, who was smiling hesitantly out of the crowd.

Mizuki waited for the coach's whistle, not even bothering to go into the stance. Swimming was something she could do.

At the signal, Mizuki jumping and placed her arms up in the right position. In a flash, she was cutting quickly and gracefully in the water.

Saato-Sensei was pleased but reminded her to put show the right position before diving so that he could check for any problems.

'Ok, mina-san, you are now allowed to freely swim laps. This lesson ends in forty-five minutes, so please get out fifteen minutes earlier so you have time to change.'

The coach walked to his chair in the middle of the swimming pool, where he could see if any trouble happened.

Kaori sighed in relief. Nothing bad had happened yet. Free lap swimming should be fine since the coach never pays attention. I can just do slow freestyle.

'Mizuki, come on! Shall we swim together?'

Mizuki skipped back towards her best friend.

'Sure, why not. I feel tired today, anyway. We can go really slowly.'

Kaori rolled her eyes. Sure, she thought, tired…right. She's pretty much jumping as she speaks.

'Okay, let's start then.'

Pulling her hair into a high ponytail she jumped cautiously into the water while holding onto the metal rails. Thank god, it was heated. Kaori saw Mizuki and laughed as her friend scowled, struggling to get her waist length curly hair into a swimming cap.

'You look ridiculous, Mizuki. Why do you even want to wear that? It looks horrible. I mean, it's a piece of rose and black coloured rubber that you pull over your head.'

Mizuki stuck her tongue out.

'It's not just me, nuff nuff. All the members of the swimming team have to wear it. It stops your hair from floating everywhere. And plus, I need it since my hair explodes when I was it unless I have this on.'

She jumped into the water, doing a somersault before rising to the surface again. 'Shall we start?'

Kaori was about to answer but out of the corner of her eye, she had spotted Lavi and his friends walking onto the basketball courts. Why couldn't we play basketball instead, she grumbled to herself, it's right next to the swimming pool…

'Yeh, let's start,'Kaori murmured absent-mindedly.

Mizuki pushed off the wall and started swimming with practiced hands but slowly, expecting Kaori to catch up. Following her, Kaori pushed off the wall without realising and then stopped studdenly.

'Wahh?'

Then realisation hit her and she sank with one last breath into the water into the water.

Kaori panicked.

Water was everywhere, water was everything. She couldn't see anything in front of her except for countless little air bubbles and her eyes squeezed themselves shut to the chlorine. Arms flailing, legs kicking desperately, she tried to move upwards…but which way was up and which way was down this place full of suffocating water?

'Mizuki!'

She tried to scream but water rushed into her mouth, choking her, sealing off her airways. It was cold, unnaturally cold water moving around her, slowing down her movements, capturing her. Killing her.

Am I. Going to. Die?

With the last of her breath, she yelled one last silent plea for help.

'LAVI!'

_To be continued…_

_Dum dum dum DUM!_

_Will Kaori be rescued from the grasp of the water? Or will she suffocate and drown? Find out next chapter~ Remember more reviews equals faster uploads~_

_JenniAngel xx_


	3. Rescued?

Reminiscences of our School Days

Chapter 3~

Rescued!

Mizuki had been careless. She knew that she should have waited for Kaori before swimming off. She knew that Kaori was never a good swimmer to begin with. But, it didn't matter now. She cast her eyes down at the still figure on the puddle-covered marble floor and tried to see past her blurry vision. Mizuki had been blind, she cursed that. Although she was grateful that Kaori was still breathing, albeit shallowly, Mizuki still could not accept the fact that she was the one to blame. She had almost killed her best friend! Perhaps she might have felt better if it was she who rescued her afterwards. But, it wasn't her. Choking back a sob, she tried to glare at the person crouching next to her. Why was it HIM who was holding Kaori in his arms? Why did it always turn back to Lavi!

* * *

Mizuki had raced (well, swam slowly, for her) to the other end of the pool in a matter of moments. It was not until she curled into a tumble turn at the end of the 100m swim that she realised there was no Kaori behind her. Instead, an indistinct figure was sinking to the ground some distance away. Its arms flailed weakly; they were useless in the situation. Mizuki felt her heart drop onto the floor. A trickle of cold realisation ran down her spine. It couldn't be…Kaori!

She had never swum faster in her whole life. She was sure of that. If this was a competition, Mizuki would have been placed first in the nationals. Not only that, she would have broken the long-standing record. But this wasn't a competition. This was an emergency. Mizuki felt panic squeeze her chest. How long had it been! Her forehead crumpled as she tried to count. 20 seconds? 30? 35? What if…what if she was too late? She felt a tear slipped under an eyelid, clogging up her goggles with fog. Please. Wait. For. Me. All at once, everything seemed to become slow-motion. She saw her hand reach out in front of her, painstakingly slow, trying to narrow the distance between herself and Kaori. She felt the water's tension break suddenly and millions of air bubbles obscuring her vision. And she saw a flash of red hair dive in front of her. She had lost.

* * *

Now, looking back, she was slightly relieved. Kaori, although tired and shaky, was slowly coming into focus. Lavi was still panting beside her, his wet P.E. uniform dripping water everywhere. The coach had raced off for the nurse as Mizuki helped Lavi drag Kaori's gasping frame to the air above. Some nearby students had screamed as they broke the surface of the water. The class was currently helping to wipe up the water on the floor and bringing towels for them. Mizuki turned her face towards Lavi and spoke through the chaos.

'Lavi…thanks for…saving her…'

He turned to meet her gaze with one emerald eye, shaking the damp red hair out of his face. His eye patch had gotten wet.

'No problem. I wouldn't have just stood there watching her drown, anyway.'

Mizuki nodded and glanced back at Kaori just in time to see her roll her head so she was snuggled further up on his lap. She seemed to be inching herself slowly towards his stomach. Mizuki felt herself flare with anger. If Kaori had been conscious of the current situation she was in, Mizuki would have screamed at her. She checked back to Lavi's face. It made her feel slightly better that he had not noticed.

'How did you…get here so fast?'

Lavi smiled, it was small, but still there.

'I climbed over the fence and sprinted.'

'Ah, I see…'

They both broke the gaze and watching as Kaori slowly stirred.

* * *

Kaori felt horrible.

Her whole body felt heavy. She could hardly move her arm up to rub her eyes. As she slowly blinked her way into focus, a pair of rose eyes swam into view. It took her a while to sort out her memories, but she finally managed to make the connection.

'Mizuki…it's you right?'

Kaori felt a pressure squeeze her hand. It was warm. Comforting.

'Yes? Are you alright now?'

She moved her head slowly, attempting to nod.

'I'm fine. Where am I?'

The room was white and had the smell of medical equipment. She was suddenly aware of the hard bed she lay on. It felt like a hospital cot.

'You're in the nurse's office. The coach and the nurse came to pick you up. HE had to carry you all the way here.'

'I see…'

Kaori was just about to nod off again when she repeated the sentence in her head and became confused.

'Mizuki…who is this HE you're talking about?'

She watched closely as her friend's eyes became darker. Her fringe eventually covered her face, hiding her expression.

'Who do you think? It was Lavi, of course. I would of, but you would let go of his shirt. You were practically hanging off his waist.'

Kaori felt her face burn up. She shot up, ready to deny it, only to fall back into her originally position.

'Woah, head rush…Mizuki, are you serious!'

Mizuki snorted.

'Well, it isn't something that I'd usually love to say. But, sadly it is true.'

She stood up, preparing to leave.

'I've got to go now. Class started half an hour ago. Plus, I don't want to meet Lavi. He said he'd come back after he changes and sorts out everything with the teachers.'

Kaori smiled. He was so nice.

'Oh, yeah,' Mizuki turned back just as she was about to exit the door, 'Did I mention, he also did CPR on you?'

Kaori's mouth dropped.

'EH!'

Mizuki leaned on the frame of the door.

'You know…when you press down on the CHEST and do MOUTH-to-MOUTH breathing?'

Kaori's mouth dropped even further.

'EHH!'

'It looked pretty intimate to me. I swear, even the nurse was blushing.'

'EHHH!'

Kaori turned around just as Mizuki smirked and left the room, her trail of damp hair swishing behind her. She sighed and facepalmed. How was she going to face Lavi tomorrow…without blushing? And speak of the devil and the devil shall come. She knew who the person was the minute she heard the footsteps. Oh gawd…She threw the blankets up and sunk down. Lavi suddenly popped in only to see a quivering figure hiding under the covers.

'Kaori, what are you doing?'


End file.
